


A kitten by the name...?

by Miizurichan



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Bruises, Drama, M/M, Nurse Kuroo, Sex Work, Sex Worker Kenma, Violence, alternative universe, injuries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-07-10 23:42:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7013278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miizurichan/pseuds/Miizurichan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroo is a nurse, and a volunteer at a clinic that helps sex workers under the radar when they're injured in any shape or form. By chance, he meets Kitten, a sex worker who's been through more than enough for a lifetime. In search of a new life where violence isn't daily, Kitten and Kuroo slowly form a bond that could lead to more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A kitten by the name...?

**Author's Note:**

> I had an idea, I ran with it, let's see where it takes me.   
> More characters are going to be introduced over time.  
> Enjoy!

Leaving work in heavy, splashing rain was not ideal. Especially when the weather reports had said nothing of rain earlier that day. Kuroo knew, or should have known, that weather reports were usually not entirely accurate, but when he almost overslept and came just in time for rounds at the hospital, he had no time to think, and no time to grab his umbrella. 

He supposed it was karma, in a sense, but a little rain never killed anybody. Well, that and he couldn’t stand by the main entrance doors forever. With a small mutter of a curse, Kuroo braced himself and walked through the double sliding doors and out into the pouring rain. 

The walk home usually wasn’t long, but on a day like this, every second out in the rain felt longer than usual. He could see it on every person that walked by him in the streets. They all shared tired, annoyed expressions, and hurried toward their destination. 

Deciding to take a shortcut to avoid staying drenched longer than needed, Kuroo walked through a wide alley with quick steps before entering a narrow street he knew to be consisting mostly of sex workers. Had he not had volunteered in a clinic for treating sex workers with injuries in the past, he would not have noticed. In comparison to other areas, here it was subtle. Subtle, but not any less violent than it could be other places. 

As he walked by a certain building, he was startled by the flash of something in his vision, then he heard an incoherent shout and the slam of a door. The pouring rain felt wakening for Kuroo as he took a step back and looked down at what had flashed before his vision. 

On the ground, clad in only underwear and a long coat, lay a blonde boy. Judging from the clothing – rather lack thereof – and the fresh and old bruises on his body, it was clear to Kuroo the boy was a sex worker. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Looking around quickly, Kuroo crouched down by the now drenched boy with a worried expression. As if snapping out of a trance, the boy sat up and pulled the coat slowly over his shoulders. “I’m fine.” 

Kuroo could see the boy start to shiver as the rain continued to pour heavily. “What do you want?” Before Kuroo could open his mouth to answer, the words were stuck in his throat by the state of the boy’s face. Half of his face was swollen and bruised, and he had a split lip that looked painful. All of which were fresh. Kuroo had seen enough bruises to see – even through the rain – that they were as fresh as could be. 

“You’re not okay.” Now, Kuroo was frowning as he lowered his voice to a whisper. “I know a safe place to get you treated, we can pretend I’m a client.” He could tell the boy didn’t trust him at all, but when Kuroo reached out a hand to help him up, he looked around quickly before barely hesitating to take Kuroo’s hand as they stood up slowly. 

Noticing the kid was barefoot in addition to being freezing cold, Kuroo knew his apartment was closer than the clinic. Making a split second decision, Kuroo slid an arm gently around the boy’s waist to support him as they walked quickly, but controlled down the street. 

By the time they got to Kuroo’s apartment, they looked like a pair of cold, wet rats. Had it been a different situation, Kuroo would have laughed, but not today. He was well aware of the risk he was taking, both for his sake and the boy’s sake. After another quick look around at his surroundings, Kuroo unlocked the front door and ushered the boy inside first. 

He could have cared about the water dripping everywhere, making his entire hall wet, but he didn’t. Kuroo’s major concern at that point was treating the boy’s injuries before the danger settled slightly, and the weather got good enough to take him to the clinic. 

Kuroo toed off his slopping wet shoes and turned around to the shivering boy who was clinging to his long coat to guide him through the apartment and to the bathroom. A river of dripping rainwater followed them all the way to the bathroom, and made small puddles as they stood in the bathroom. 

“Could I get your coat?” Keeping his voice even, with a hint of hesitance, as he reached out his hands for the dripping coat around the boy’s small frame. Although he received a look that screamed distrust, the boy slowly slid the thin coat off his shoulders and held it up to Kuroo with both hands. 

If the boy’s face could be considered bad, Kuroo wouldn’t know how to describe the rest of his body. Bruises and small cuts of all and every sizes covered his entire upper body, most of his arms and his thighs. 

After that they didn’t speak for some time. Kuroo busied himself with wringing water out of the boy’s coat, then he wiggled his way out of his sweater and did the same with it. After hanging them over the edge of the shower, Kuroo turned back to the boy. 

Despite having his arms crossed lightly over his chest, the boy wasn’t embarrassed. Kuroo could see he tried to hold it back, but the goose-bumps that made themselves apparent over his body betrayed him. 

With a small frown, Kuroo turned toward the tall cabinet in the bathroom to find a towel for the boy. “If you could remove your underwear, that would be good. I’ll give you a towel to dry off and warm up.” 

“Um.” With a small, hesitant voice, the boy swallowed slightly and kept his eyes up so they could meet with Kuroo’s when he turned around. “I don’t really care if you look at me.” His tone was flat, uncaring, but Kuroo didn’t believe it. 

“You can say that, but your line of work does not affect me, you still deserve privacy.” He could see the boy wanted to retaliate in a different way, but decided against it before opening his mouth. “Fine. Turn around then.” 

With a small smile, Kuroo turned back to fishing out a towel and turned back to the boy with the towel stretched out and high enough for Kuroo not to see anything below the waist as he heard the wet plop of underwear hitting the floor. They remained silent as the boy took the towel and started drying himself slowly. 

After a moment, the boy stood with his back facing Kuroo’s back. “Could I, have another towel? For my hair, I mean.” With a hum in reply, Kuroo fished out another towel from the cabinet and turned to hand it to the boy. 

“Here you go-shit.” The curse slipped out before Kuroo had a chance to stop it. The boy immediately understood what had caused the reaction and hung his head lightly, almost in a shameful way. Across his lower back and across his bum were two whip-like marks. They looked relatively fresh, but didn’t bleed, not anymore either way. 

All other thoughts and actions were thrown out of the way as Kuroo opened the cabinet where he had his medical gear. “I have to examine that.” Kuroo’s tone held absolutely no room for discussion, and he was certain his expression did too. The boy stood rock still with the larger towel covering his front. Kuroo didn’t get a green light, not verbally anyway, but the fact that the boy didn’t move away or protest was more than enough. 

After finding everything he needed to clean and cover the whip marks with, He sat down on his knees behind the boy to inspect them a bit closer. “There’s some dried blood around here, so I’ll have to clean them, and that might hurt.” Looking up, Kuroo saw the boy nod quietly, and got to work. 

Minutes passed, cleaning was done and when Kuroo sat back, he was satisfied to see that the marks were not deep. All they would need was a bit of bandaging, and that was exactly what Kuroo finished with. 

After making sure the bandages sat on properly, Kuroo went over the bruises on the boy’s body until he reached his face. “Looks like the only thing left here to treat for now is that split lip of yours.” Grabbing the boy’s face with a light touch to avoid pressing on the bruises, he inspected the cut lightly before starting to clean it gently. 

As he cleaned, Kuroo could see the split wasn’t that big, but it wasn’t as fresh as the marks on the boy’s behind, nor had it been cleaned properly. “You’ll have to clean it regularly, even if it hurts, even if it bleeds.” Looking into the boy’s golden eyes, Kuroo could see he understood. 

When everything had been put where it was supposed to be, Kuroo showed the boy the way to the couch in the living room where he sat down to dry his hair. Now it was Kuroo’s time to get out of the rest of his wet clothes and into something dry and comfortable. 

A few minutes later, Kuroo returned to the living room in a v-line t-shirt and sweatpants and a pack of ice from the freezer. The boy sat the exact same way as he had when Kuroo left but shifted lightly when Kuroo sat down beside him. The towel he had used to dry his hair was laying loosely over his shoulders. 

An awkward silence stretched on until Kuroo cleared his throat lightly, “It’s a bit late, but… My name is Kuroo, what’s yours?” Kuroo handed the pack of ice to the boy as he turned toward him. Holding it to the bruised side of his face, the boy looked at him with a flat expression but oddly intense gaze. “Kitten. My name is Kitten.”


End file.
